Bound Beyond Death
by Anime-Ronin
Summary: Complete! Before the world of Batman Beyond, there was a promise made by a certain Bat to a certain Amazon Princess – now, though, that old Bat has died and the Princess wants his successor to pay up.
1. Default Chapter

Bound Beyond Death

Author: Anime Ronin

Rating: R, on the outside (or 18, if you use the other system)

Summary: Before the world of Batman Beyond, there was a promise made by a certain Bat to a certain Amazon Princess – now, though, that old Bat has died and the Princess wants his successor to pay up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Have mercy on me – this is my first BB fic.

AN2: Been a long time since I've watched any of the shows, so I've probably got a few dates and facts wrong – don't crucify me, please.

1/1 (I think)

There was once a legend that had put the fear of the gods and of devils into the criminals within Gotham City, and that legend went by the name of Batman – he prowled the city streets and skies, making the city safe and putting the evil criminals in jail (if they stayed there or not, that wasn't his call – he was, after all, not a Judge, not the Jury and, though he occasionally wished it, not the Executioner), and for a while, Gotham was safe. Then, though, he vanished after some thirty five years of service – some said that he had gotten killed, others said that he'd gotten tired of the constant fighting, but she knew the truth of what had laid the Batman low; a heart attack, of all of the things that had happened to Batman, it was the one thing that was probably the lowest on the list of things that would do him in, but it did just that, it effectively 'killed' the Batman.

Of course she'd visited him when she could, but as her job and responsibilities grew in number, her time away from 'work' and with her friend shrunk … and she felt bad about that, as she missed their spirited, if occasionally overly-vocal, debates over the right and wrong ways to do things. For nearly twenty five years, the legend of the Batman faded into myth, and nearly into antiquity, as Gotham City went through a Renaissance and then into a long, downward spiral of crime and depravity as the new century came and put a large foothold into the city – violent crimes were up, arrests were down, and the police were doing their best to keep the city afloat … and then HE returned, after a fashion. The costume was a black bodysuit, with a full mask, a blood red bat on his chest, and he was much thinner than she remembered, but The Batman had returned to the rooftops and skies of Gotham City, bringing the myth back with a vengeance.

It had taken her and the other members of the JLU all of ten seconds to realize that Bruce Wayne was not the one inside of the suit, obviously, as he was pushing 85 at the time of the new Batman's appearance, but while this worried many, she and Kal-El were not – both knew that Bruce would never allow anyone to soil the name he had worked for nearly four decades to build, and as time went on, that decision was apparently the right one as, after a few blunders and more than a few tussles with ever-present criminals, the Batman once again was putting the fear of the Dark Knight back into the criminals of Gotham, and of the world. She had later learned of Kal's offering of an invitation to join the JLU to the new Batman, and of the subsequent refusal of a full membership, and this had brought a smirk to her lips even as Kal told her 'the Bat hasn't changed at all, Diana'.

Diana wasn't sure how she felt when she got the news of Bruce's passing from his personal assistant, Terry McGinnis, one blustery cold day in February, but she knew that a large part of her had died with her friend – in an odd way, she had loved him, as much as she could love any man, and she knew she would miss him even as Terry McGinnis began to make the arrangements as per his employer's last wishes. Diana took that moment to study the young man – he was tall, lean, pale and young, but those were just the physical things that anyone could see; she had looked into his icy blue eyes and, in an instant, knew that he was the one within the suit, the new Batman, from the mountain of pure steel that she saw within him – one could not take up that mantle, that kind of responsibility, and not have that kind of internal resolve, but one thing that she also saw within him was a fire that she had never once seen in Bruce, a fire to prove himself. Bruce had always been cool, that fire replaced with a glacier of ice, but while Terry burned with a righteous passion to prove himself worthy of the title 'Batman', Bruce had always tried to prove that, in the end, people like him weren't necessary, that humanity would pick up the slack if people like him were not all around.

An hour later, the arrangements complete, Terry turned to her and spoke, "So, how long were you and Bruce involved?"

Her jaw dropped.

Terry had brought news of Bruce's passing to the JLU tower, as per Bruce's final requests, a whole two hours after the doctors had pronounced him dead in his sleep at his mansion – it had hurt when his friend and mentor had passed, but both of them had known that the day was quickly approaching, as both of them knew that it would happen, one day. Bruce had long-since prepared for the time, naming several people as his replacements in the Wayne-Powers side of things, and had also made Max the offer to help run and upgrade the things in the Cave on an as-needed basis, which, of course, his pink-haired friend had accepted as calmly as possible (Terry had been washing off the lipstick marks for hours, as Max had, for the first time in a while, been wearing said makeup). He, though, was another story.

Bruce had made sure that his grades were on the up-and-up by the time he had died, and now he was going to pass high school and was going to take his college entrance exams at Gotham U, but there were several other offers out there to be seriously considered as well – Superman had offered him, again, full membership with the JLU, Commissioner Gordon a job in the Gotham PD, and the same people who had been placed by Bruce wanted him to take up a figurehead role in the company, but nobody was putting pressure on him … and then SHE showed up.

He knew who she was, even though, sadly, she did not wear her costume of old anymore, from the pictures in the history books and on Bruce's walls, and Diana Prince had not changed in nearly 50 years, looking as young now as she did when she first came onto the superhero scene (though there was one point, about 25 years ago, when she had gotten her hair cut and dyed, and the less said about that, the better). She stood a hair or two taller than he did without his mask and subsequent ears, her body was built for both power and speed, but also to attract the male eye – he'd seen the numerous faked vids and pics on the Net, as everyone had, and made a point to never bring them or the hair thing up due to, as Bruce had once put it, her 'extreme way to show displeasure', which had later been expanded on 'she'll be you into a bloody lump of ground beef, McGinnis'. Her hair was still as raven as it once was, her eyes as blue as the sky on a summer day and, after his little question, her jaw was just about at her knees as she stammered slightly.

"What?"

He mentally grinned at the thoughts of actually winning a verbal confrontation with a JLU member, "Bruce spoke of you often and said that, after he passed, to not be surprised if you came by, so I'm asking how long you two were together."

She blinked several times and then her brain caught up to her, "We were not an … item, as it was once said, merely passingly acquainted with one another, Mr. McGinnis."

Terry winced, "Terry, please, or if you must, Terrance – Mr. McGinnis was my father."

She arched an eyebrow at him and nodded, "Terry, then – let me ask you a question, then, young man: how long have you been Batman?"

If she was looking for surprise, he didn't give her the satisfaction as he blandly answered, "Three years, four months, one week."

Diana looked at the boy, feeling slightly disappointed in the fact that her question had failed to get the reaction she had been shooting for – maybe she was out of practice? "How did you start?"

"My father was murdered by the CEO of Wayne-Powers, Derek Powers, a.k.a. Blight, and when Mr. Wayne refused to help me … I stole the suit." She arched an eyebrow at him even as he went on, not sure how to take his open admittance of STEALING from Bruce Wayne, "It took some convincing, but in the end I think it was Bruce who was convincing me what he knew all along – Gotham needed Batman, and I had the job."

"And now?" He looked up at her and she went on, "Do you still think that Gotham needs Batman?"

He nodded, "Unfortunately – one day I hope people like the JLU or Batman aren't needed … but I won't hold my breath."

She nodded sadly, "Man's world … the entire world … is often darker than we wished it to be." She walked over and sat next to him, "Did Bruce tell you why I was going to come here after his death?"

He shook his head, "Not much at all, but he said that it would be a debt of honor that he owed you … a debt that, if I can, I'll take up myself." He looked up at her and she could see the force of will that Bruce had inspired in all of those whom had worked with him, either in business or in the pursuit of justice – his voice dropped slightly and that steel became more present as she stopped talking to Terry McGinnis and started talking to Batman, without his suit on, "So what is it that you need, Princess?"

He wasn't surprised when she looked down, as if ashamed to ask what she was going to ask, "Terrance -" this was not a good sign, "Bruce told me, once, that if there was anything he could do, I had only to ask. This is what I have come here to ask."

"And that would be?"

Diana Prince looked into his eyes and spoke, her eyes sad, "I … Diana Prince needs to die."

He arched an eyebrow at her, "What?"

AN: Okay, that's it – should I even bother with continuing with this fic? Review, please.


	2. Chapter 2

2/4

Terry looked at the woman like she had grown a second head, "What?"

Diana looked down at her hands, not sure what to do at first, but then she felt as if Bruce was there, young again, and urging her on as she felt a slight surge go through her, "Terry, as you know, I am not exactly … normal. I was made from clay, granted life and power by the Gods, and my entire life has been carefully sculpted by the fates for my sisters to learn about Man's world." He nodded slowly and she continued, "My people now know about Man's world, the dangers there, and … my time has passed."

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Terry agreed, not liking where this was going. "Princess-"

"Diana, or if you must, Wonder Woman," she pressed him slightly, doing her best to not let her emotions control her.

Terry nodded, "Diana, your initial purpose has been served and your people know of our world, but what's this about you needing to die?"

She shook her head, "Not 'die' as to be offered to Hades in the Netherworld, Terry, but I need to be reborn, to let my old self go the way Bruce has … to become someone else."

Terry nodded at her, as if in understanding, but he didn't look convinced, "A new identity? Diana, no disrespect intended, but I think it's going to be a little hard to take such a famous face, kill the name and then try to be someone else."

"Bruce did it with Batman," she pointed out to him.

Terry shook his head, "No, Batman did that with Batman – you're a known figure, and the only way to change who you are …"

She nodded, "Is to change who I am, physically." She reached into the bag she had brought with her and brought out a vial filled with a thick red liquid that sparkled slightly, "I will have a successor in Cassandra, who had agreed to take my place after my 'death', but this will ensure that Diana Prince … dies."

Terry narrowed his eyes at the vial, "What is that?"

"A gift from Zeus, Terry – it will change me, physically, but it will take time." She reached back into the bag and pulled out another item, but this time it was a file case that held old CD's, "Bruce and I once talked about what I could do, if I ever needed to 'disappear' and he came up with these – they are identities that can be set up if placed into the proper computer systems and … and I want you to use them."

Terry accepted the disks, his mind whirling – if he went along with this, he was going to be effectively killing Wonder Woman, and he wasn't sure he liked how that would weigh on his conscience, "Diana … have you talked to anyone else about this?"

She nodded, "Kal knows, Bruce knew, and several select others know, but nobody else."

"How long would this … change … take?"

She looked down at the vial, her beautiful face marred by a frown, "From what Zeus had told me, no more than a moon's time, but he also said that with this change, there would be consequences."

Terry stood up sharply, his voice dropping slightly, "Consequences? Is it dangerous?"

Diana stood, her shoulders squared, "All things in life are dangerous, Terry. If I do this, not only will I need to have someone input my new identity, but I shall also need a place to stay while my body changes, a place that will not be disturbed in case someone should get suspicious."

"Why not go back to your Sisters?"

She shook her head vehemently, her long dark tresses sailing back and forth, "No, that is not an option – when Diana Prince dies … if she were to return to the Amazon nation, it would not be well-received." She looked down at the vial again, "Kal has offered me his Fortress of Solitude, but … I ask that I be allowed to stay here." Terry arched an eyebrow slightly, as if to ask 'and why here', and Diana humored him with a response, "This mansion holds better memories for me, Terry, than the Fortress – as you were told yesterday, the mansion is yours to do with …"

Terry nodded, remembering when that had been posted all over the fracking Net and several of the high school jocks had immediately called him, asking to use his place as a love nest. His mother had not been far behind, asking what was going on, and he had promised to tell her … after the funeral, which was not going to be fun whatsoever. He looked over at Diana and nodded, "Okay, you can use the mansion, but I'm going to be here too … and depending on how a particular conversation goes after Bruce's funeral, it may not be just the both of us. I miss that mutt – he might have been able to keep Matt in check," he said somewhat whimsically before he looked over then at the urn above the mantle that was in the private office he had been set up in as a place to 'study' – Ace had not lived to see his master's death, having died in his sleep some six months before Bruce had, and Terry was sure now that the mutt was with Bruce even now.

Diana nodded, a slight smile on her lips, "Your mother?"

"Yeah."

She looked at him but sounded totally unsympathetic, "I know well how much you do not look forwards to this, Terry – if you think your mother is bad, try having a Queen for a mother."

(Several Days Later – Gotham Cemetery)

She looked at the assembled group of people, a group that probably did not number more than twenty, and noticed while many of them were in various shades of black, several others were most notably not – Mary wasn't sure why, but several members of the JLU were there, in full costume, and while she recognized Big Barda, Superman and Hawkman, even the Green Lantern, she wasn't sure who the young woman in the bathing suit was. What caught her attention, though, were some of the other people there.

Dick Greyson, of Greyson Enterprises, an subsidiary of Wayne-Powers Corporation, was dressed in a sable hue and had a pin on his tie that looked suspiciously like a stylized 'R', while Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon was in her brown trench coat and uniform, and another woman, tall and strong, stood next to an older man, grey, balding and slightly overweight, both in black. All of them, however, stood just beside her son, Terry, who was dressed in black as well, but wore it more like a mantle, a cloak, rather than mere clothing – she had been forced to make sure that Matt was in school that day, not wanting to run the risk of him trying to provoke Terry more than was necessary, given how short-tempered her oldest son had been since Mr. Wayne's passing.

The priest left the graveside service and Mary took that chance to look at the memorial – it was simple, sitting next to a pair that read 'Thomas Wayne' and 'Martha Wayne', made of solid mild gray granite but the lettering was inlaid with a dark black obsidian that made the lettering stand out all that much more; it was quite striking, in a subdued kind of way, and Mary McGinnis found it oddly similar to the man she had met a little more than three years ago as the younger members of the JLU left, allowing her to walk up to her son, "Terry?"

He looked at her, his eyes a mystery, "Yes?"

She hesitated at the powerful look he had in his eye, as if all of the child had been stripped away, leaving only a man there … a man who was her son, "Son … I don't mean to sound rude, but why are all of these people here? Who are they?"

Superman stepped forwards, his black suit and lighter emblem slightly dull as the clouds began to thicken, "You know who we are, ma'am, but as to why we are here … Bruce helped us all out at one point or another. He long-since earned my respect … generally since he stopped chasing after my wife," he mused, getting a chuckle out of several of the older JLU members. He waved off her look of concern, "Don't worry, Lois knew him back when he was the notorious playboy, the one who refused to settle down until later."

Mary nodded, her confusion growing as to just who Bruce Wayne had once been, but she put that particular question off to one side as Terry pulled on his darkened glasses, "Are you going to come back to the house later, Terry?"

He nodded, "After the Will reading, mom." He walked over, bussed her on the cheek and then, like a wraith, turned on his heel and ghosted through the tombstones of the old cemetery, vanishing even as the sun vanished from sight for the last time that day and the skies rumbled ominously.

"An ill sign, this storm," she heard a rich, yet sad, female voice say as she turned around to see Diana Prince, the former Wonder Woman, standing next to the casket, her face a mystery, "yet oddly fitting for him."

"For who? Terry?"

Diana nodded slightly, "Terry as well, but mostly for Bruce – both of them are and were creatures of the night, Ms. McGinnis, both of them thriving in it."

That statement set off warning bells, whistles, cannons and banshees in Mary's mind even as her mind drew back to something that Terry had once told her and Matt long ago, "Just how well did you know Mr. Wayne?"

Diana smiled slightly, "Bruce and I were old friends, Ms. McGinnis, and it was with him that I learned not only how fun verbally sparring with a man could be, but also just how different two men could be. He and Batman, well, the old one, were very similar, yet very different – I met them both, on several occasions, actually, and until I saw them in the same room together, I had in my mind they were the same person." Mary gasped but Diana went on, quieting the woman's fears, "Bruce and that Batman both got a good chuckle out of it but never really let it drop." Of course, it had been in the Batcave where she had seen them both together, Bruce next to his costume, and for the next few months she kicked herself for not having seen it earlier – he had certainly given her enough clues as to whom he really was, him and Kal both, but she had just never put it together.

Mary nodded at this, having had something like that happen with her first husband, "I understand completely." She then sighed, "Poor Terry, to lose his mentor like this …"

"He will survive, Ms. McGinnis," Diana assured the woman. "Neither he nor Bruce were ever under the impression that Bruce was immortal – neither liked to talk about it, but neither were afraid of it."

She watched the woman nod, "I just hope he does the right thing – I'm honestly not looking forward into moving into that mansion, so I do hope he doesn't ask us to."

Diana crooked a grin at her, "I would think that you would love to move into a mansion, Ms. McGinnis – is that untrue?"

"No, I'd love to," Mary said quickly, "but somehow I doubt that Terry would let Matt, his little brother, anywhere near that place – sometimes, I think he works late all of the time to just get away from his brother, and other times … other times I wonder if what he once told us was true."

Diana arched an eyebrow at her, "And what is that?"

Mary took a breath and let it out slowly, speaking softly, "That he is Batman."

Diana did her best to keep the shocked look off her face – Terry had told someone? WHY? "Ms. McGinnis … are you sure your son wasn't just playing with you? As I understand, boys his age generally do things like that."

Mary smiled at the woman, the icon herself, and shook her head, "If you ever have children, particularly sons, Miss Prince, you'll understand a mother's intuition." Mary then turned and walked away, "I need to go home now – Matt will be home soon and he will probably be upset about being left out of this."

Diana watched the mother walk away before turning away herself – she had a will reading to go to, and she was fairly sure things were going to turn out exactly as people thought they would.

AN: Alright, here's part two of four – a few answers given, a few more left undone; hope everyone likes some of the reasoning I gave for Diana's 'death'. Read and Review, please, AR.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of 4

(That Evening – Wayne Manor)

Max watched as Terry sat at the massive desk and filled out sheet after sheet of information, given his new title as, for now, figurehead of Wayne-Powers Incorporated until such time that he was deemed old enough and ready to take over as CEO. She honestly didn't envy his position now, as one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet, especially as he sighed and threw down the pen he was holding in disgust, "Cred for your thoughts, Ter?"

He chuckled tiredly, his face drawn and even more pale-looking than normal, "Max, if I asked you to marry me right now, would you knowing that your life was going to be an open data file for anyone to read?"

She snorted at him and smirked, standing up and walking over to where he sat, sitting on the edge of the desk and tousling his hair slightly, "Not a chance, Ter – you're cute, yeah, but no girl needs that level of aggravation."

He looked up at his pink-haired, mocha-skinned friend, and sighed, "Thanks, Max … did I just propose to you?"

"Eh, kinda, but I'm chalking it up to the stress and lack of sleep – I'd say I wouldn't tell Dana, but with your break up with her earlier this week …" It had been horrible, to say the least, when Dana Tan, Terry's on-again, off-again girlfriend had finally had enough of Terry's 'night job' and had called it off … in front of everybody; Terry had tried to explain a few things, but seeing he could not tell her the truth about jetting around in bat-like jammies, the relationship was officially dead in the water, out of the water and on the table, plucked and roasted.

"Such are relationships for those of us in tights, Maxine," said another voice, richer, fuller, and female. Max had been ready to kill Terry when he had forgotten to tell her that Diana Prince, Wonder Woman herself, was going to be staying at the mansion for a while – Wonder Woman was one of Max's secret idols and the fact that said woman was going to be staying in what was now Terry's mansion, even if his mother didn't want to live in it, was enough to warrant homicide.

Terry grinned at Diana as Max tried to hide that she had been spooked, "If I recall the pics correctly, you never wore tights, Diana."

Diana grinned at the young man easily, falling back into an old role she had played with Bruce over the decades, "You're right, of course – not all of us feel the need to dress up in skin-tight black bodysuits with a red bat and pointed ears."

Terry didn't miss a beat, "You're right, some wear star-spangled blue hotpants and a red and gold corset."

Max looked back and forth between the bantering pair, horrified that her best friend was saying what he was saying about her hero, and decided to level the playing field by smacking Terry on the arm, "Play nice, Ter, she's your guest."

He rubbed his upper arm playfully even as Diana fought down what looked like a fit of giggles, "Yes, she is – can you ever forgive me, Lady Diana?"

Max looked at the woman, who had arched an eyebrow at him for a few seconds before breaking into laughter that lasted for a few minutes; eventually, she calmed down long enough to gasp out, "You … and Bruce … so much alike." Max then noticed that the laughter took a different tone even as Terry got out of his chair – soon, laughter became tears and Diana Prince, the Wonder Woman, was crying and Terry was right over there, hugging her even as she hugged him back.

Diana sniffled a few times before she pulled back, tears streaking her cheeks, "I'm going to miss him, Terry."

"Me too – I half-expected to come in today and hear," Terry said, modulating his voice into a deeper, graveled voice, "'you're late, McGinnis'," before changing back, "but … I guess it's all kinda setting in now." He reached over and grabbed a tissue, handing it to the Amazon Princess, who accepted it gratefully even as Max walked around the desk.

"So … what's going on here?" Diana was startled by the question, but couldn't respond as Maxine went on, "Ter, are you and Wonder Woman … doing something you shouldn't?"

Terry, for his part, only snorted, "No, Max – I'm just helping out a friend of Bruce's with something that she wants to do." He then looked over at Diana, "I began imputing the data an hour ago, Diana, so you can start at any time."

She nodded gratefully, "Then I start tonight – from what I was told, I will be completely comatose for the next phase, Terry … I'll need you to watch over me."

Terry nodded at her, "I'll have an IV and stuff set up, then – should take care of everything … except for the Bat business and your funeral."

Max jerked at this, "Funeral? Hold up, what's going on here?"

Diana shook her head, "I do not want to go into it now – I'll be in my room, Terry." She turned around and, with great sadness, began to walk away, up to her room, to her new destiny, wherever it would take her even as she heard Terry take Max off to the side and try and explain things. Once there, she slipped into some comfortable night clothes she had picked up years before, night clothes that sported numerous superheroes from times past and present (even the new Batman was on there, though on a lapel), and between the sheets of the bed before grabbing the bottle that was on the night stand.

She could not drink it and keep her life, as stagnant as it was, or drink it and run the possibility of never knowing who she truly was ever again – she mused on the problem even as she uncorked it and a wisp of red smoke curled from the top. She looked first at the bottle, then at the setting sun, and then back at the bottle as an old quote came to mind, "That which does not change shall one day go obsolete and, later, extinct." She swiftly brought the bottle to her lips and drank down the foul-tasting concoction and, even before the last drop had gone past her lips, felt the world slipping away from her as she felt back into the pillows there. Vaguely, she wondered if she'd keep her hair color the same when she woke up, and if she would still be as tall, but then all was nothing but blessed blackness.

(Next Morning)

Terry looked down at the form of Diana Prince even as an old friend of Bruce's hooked up a nutrient line with an IV piggyback into the woman's arm – it had been less than twelve hours since she had taken the liquid and, even now, he could see the minor differences in her face. She had been a strong, proud woman with an almost triangular face, much like his own, with dark black hair and deep blue eyes, but now that face was not as triangular, a little softer, and more … human, in some respects, as the woman doctor pulled away.

"She'll be fine, Terry – I've hooked up the lines and bags, all you have to do is to change them out when they are empty, every twelve hours or so." Dr. Alicia Watts had known Bruce for nearly thirty years, she had been a first-year resident when the billionaire had come into the hospital because of a heart attack and, ever since, she had been working with him … and Batman, though she had only known Terry for just over three years. She was not as pretty as she once had been, but had gained a matured kind of beauty that most women would kill for, and that she also had her hair a solid gray color now. "I'll check in on her ever few days, but I see no real problems in her condition."

Terry smiled at her, "Thanks, Doc."

She pinned him with a glare even as he hid the bottle behind his back, "Young man, if I find out you drugged or poisoned this woman I will be forced to thrash you."

Terry, remembering something Bruce had told him once about Doc Watts, smiled charmingly and asked, "Is that a threat, or a promise, Doc? If it's the latter, would you rather use my belt or yours?" It had the desired effect of getting the older woman to blush a healthy red color and stammer a few seconds before she blinked a few times and laughed.

"I see you and Bruce ARE quite alike," she managed to get out while collecting her things. "He was always such a flirt, but like you, he never had what it took to get a woman like me." This made Terry blush and her to chuckle again, murmuring to herself, "Still have it, Alicia."

Later, after Doc Watts left, Terry was at Bruce's … his desk when there was a call on the private line, a line that was reserved for JLU business, so he picked up the ancient hand-held device while slipping into his 'Batman' voice, "Yes?"

"I take it Diana's gone to sleep?" Superman, wonderful. "I just checked her quarters here at the Tower and they are empty – where is she, Batman?"

"She's safe, Kal, and that's all I'm willing to say over the line – if you want to know more, you know how to find me." Terry put the receiver down and got out of his desk – at best, he had ten minutes before the Man of Steel showed up at his front door, well, his back door, at the Cave.

Like clockwork, ten minutes later, Superman was walking into the mansion proper with an annoyed look on his face, "Kid, what's going on here? Diana told me what's going on, but I saw in the computer that in a few hours she is going to be pronounced dead of natural causes – I want answers."

"Nice to see you too, Kal," Terry said, sipping some coffee as he sat back into his desk chair. "As for Diana, well, she said she wanted to 'die', that Diana Prince had to die, so she is. Big deal."

"People are going to get curious about where the body is, kid," Superman pointed out, sitting down and grabbing a cup of coffee for himself, "and how she died – she was too public of a figure to not garner those questions."

Terry nodded, "We've taken care of it all, Kal – she left me instructions that the press, when they ask, will be told it is an old Amazon tradition for the body to be burned, in private, and if they don't like it they can take it up with her mother, the Queen. From what I've heard about the woman, I doubt any of them are going to do something that suicidal."

Kal El looked at the new Batman, Bruce's heir in both the cowl and the business sense, and could see that the boy he had met was mostly gone, replaced by a man who had a steel the Bruce had shown often, but a steel that was still mostly untested. The kid had helped them out big in the past, especially with that one episode with the mind-controlling starfish, and had even refused full membership to the JLU because, in the kid's words, 'it wasn't his time, yet'. Bruce, when he told him that, had gotten a chuckle out of it, saying that maybe Terry was more grown up than he thought, but then the kid came back into the Cave with several day-glow colors on his suit, colors of the Jokerz, a murderous expression on his face and going directly for the heavy artillery Bat Armor. "So, what is her new ID?"

Terry shrugged at the question, "She has some old stuff that Mr. Wayne had cooked up years ago, and when she wakes back up, she'll have an unveiling party that you may be invited to."

"And her powers?"

Again, Terry shrugged, "She didn't say and I didn't ask – chances are they may still be there, but then again they may not. I think that, if she is suddenly powerless … she may accept it and try and live a normal life." Terry took another drink of his coffee, "If not … Wonder Woman may have a new apprentice to 'train'."

Kal groaned, sinking his face into his hand, "Oh, great – Cassie's going to love that."

Terry snickered at him, "Aw, does Cassie not like training people?"

Kal shivered, "She has her mother's temper – last time she went off, we had four cakes, two tubs of ice cream, a bowl of melon balls and a few liters of Soder pops to clean off of the walls, floors and ceilings." He thought back a second and then grinned, "According to Red Tornado, it was 'Young Justice PTM night all over again'."

Terry shivered at this, having been told the 'horror stories' of Young Justice by Dick, Barbara and Bruce alike, though he had gotten e-mails from Tim in full defense of what they had done. The ones that often did the most damage, though, were Cassie and Bart, Wonder Girl and Impulse, and Terry, for one, hoped to not meet the second, "Ouch."

They sat and drank coffee for several more minutes before Superman broke the silence, "So, one moon's time?"

"Yup."

"Do I really have any chance of getting you to join us full-time after that point? We could use a Bat in the belfries," Superman said, smirking at the end.

Terry shot him a dark look, "Keep making the jokes, fly boy, and your wife gets some pictures that Bruce has of you, involving you, some bikini-clad girls and a lampshade, not to mention enough booze to float your JLU tower."

Kal shot up, "Hey, that's low, and that was Bruce's bachelor party, if I remember …" The kid gave him a grin that only Bruce could have taught and Kal knew he was sunk, "You wouldn't would you?"

"Of course I would, Superman," the kid replied with a grin on his face. "Bruce always taught me the first two lessons – don't kill, and don't be afraid to honor a threat."

He shot the kid a look, "If Lois gets those pictures and I need a couch to sleep on, I'm using yours."

(27 nights later)

The first thing she felt was discomfort, from all over her body, mainly located in her chest, but her legs weren't far behind – she slowly opened her eyes and quickly shut them as the light assaulted her long-dormant eyes; she remembered the potion tasted foul, that she had actually been thinking of her hair color before she fell asleep, and … her stomach growled thunderously, answering if she was hungry or not.

"Well, good morning to you too." She knew the voice was that of Terry McGinnis and that he was walking towards her softly, unhooking several things off to her side and then pulling what felt like needles from her arms, "Don't worry, Diana, I'll have you unhooked in a few minutes – sorry, but I have to get person here for a second." She felt her cheeks redden as she felt his hands slip under the blankets and remove something else from her body, form a place that no man had ever been before, but she could feel that he was being professional about it as he quickly went about his business.

Several minutes later, she slowly opened her eyes and, after a few moments of adjustment, looked over to see that Terry wasn't the one standing there – Batman was, in his full uniform, and he was smiling at her slightly, "So, Sleeping Beauty, anything you want to know?"

She worked her jaw a little and tried to speak, but she only croaked out a dry, hoarse sound that soon got her a straw and some cool water, water she quickly sucked down her parched throat. After a few more minutes and two glasses of water, she tried to speak again, though it was weak, "How … look?"

Batman smiled at her and grabbed a mirror for her to look in, "Don't worry about clothes, Diana, Max has some here that you can borrow." None of this registered, though, as a new pair of eyes looked back at her, eyes she had never seen before

Green eyes, with very red eyebrows over her eyes.

AN: Okay, folks, that's it for this part – a little shorter than what I wanted it to be, but then again, I may extend this story out past the next, and supposedly final, part. Read and Review, please, AR.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AN: In this chapter, Diana's new name is brought in – you who watch television should get who the last name belonged to at first sight.

Terry stepped out of the bathroom, now in normal clothes, and saw that the woman formerly known as Diana Prince was still standing in front of the mirror he had left her in front of minutes before – where the Amazon Princess had been towering, nearly six feet two inches tall, the new Diana was lucky to scrape past five feet seven in heels; raven tresses were gone, now replaced by fire red locks that licked down the back of her shoulder blades, her green eyes were wide as her hands went over her pale-ish skin. The bigger change, though, was that while 'old' Diana had looked to be in her late twenties, maybe her early thirties, the 'new' Diana looked to be his age, 18, maybe a touch older – it would take some time, but he was sure that she would get used to it, "What do you think, Princess? Is it you?"

She turned to him and, dressed in the over-sized sleep shirt that Max had left for her to change into, she looked confused, adorable and more than a little upset as her bottom lip began to quiver, "I shrunk."

He blinked, several times in fact, and then walked over and draped an arm over her shoulders, which she accepted, "Out of everything that has happened, you're upset over the fact you're shorter?"

She nodded, "I liked towering over the guys." She then looked down at her chest, "And I liked my bigger breasts – it distracted them, you know? I can't remember how many guys couldn't even think straight because they couldn't take their eyes off my chest."

Terry, remembering said chest, nodded in agreement, "Well, not much I can say or do about it, except say that you're younger, so maybe you'll grow into them."

Diana was about to say something, but another voice beat her to it, "Ter, I think I better take things from here." She looked over and saw Maxine Gibson, the friend of Terry's she had met before she had 'gone under', and noticed a marked difference in the young woman immediately. Gone was the 'new age' clothing, but now replaced by a stylish suit, though the pink hair still remained.

Terry nodded, "Okay, Max – you have the rest of the files downloaded?"

Max nodded at him, "All on your computer … Boss." He shot her an irritated look even as she grinned at him – she knew he hated being called that, but ever since he had been installed as the acting CEO of Wayne-Powers Enterprises, everyone, despite his fervent pleads not to, called him 'Boss'.

Diana watched Terry leave, hearing him muttering about gutting somebody or another, and looked up at Maxine, "'Boss'?"

Max nodded at the slightly shorter 'Wonder Woman', "Yeah, about two weeks ago he was installed as the acting CEO of WPE, and since I now work for him as his Executive Personal Assistant, I gotta call him 'Boss' – he hates it, of course, so I only call him that when I know I can get away with it."

Diana blinked at this, having already known that, one day, Terry would become the CEO, "He has taken the position … already?"

Max shook her head, "Not because he wanted to, actually, but because he wasn't given a choice – there was a scandal with some of the more redundant senior VP's and it would have really shaken up the company, but if Terry took over, he could fire whoever he wanted, and those guys got the boot. Once they were gone, the scandals came out and it was all pinned on them – he didn't like it, but Terry is now the CEO and learning quick."

"But how … I mean … what about his schooling?" Bruce's Last Will and Testament had strictly stated that Terry, barring an emergency, was to not take the position of CEO without a college education in business from Gotham University, but if Terry was already the CEO, how was he going to do his job and go to class?

Max nodded at her as they began to walk away towards the showers, "He asked that too, and he's going to be doing both – he goes to school during the morning and in the afternoon he's CEO. Not the best way to run a business, but he's adapting to the stress of it." They reached the showers and Max handed the redhead a towel and other things, "Get cleaned up while you're in there and put these on – we have the rest of your ID to set up, Diana … or whatever your new name is."

Diana nodded and went into the bathroom, shutting the door and stripping off her clothes as she walked towards the enclosed stall – it was time to truly leave her old life behind.

(Later – Library office)

He looked up from his reading and pulled off his glasses as the door opened and she walked in almost nervously – dressed in an emerald-colored blouse and black pants, not to mention her hair pulled back into a simple, yet still-damp, tail, Diana looked around and walked in even as he smiled over at Max, who was preening already, "Good choice, Max – colors work for her."

She gave him a look that said 'and you doubted me WHY?' before looking back at Diana, who seemed to be gaining more confidence as she walked, "Not bad, in my own humble opinion."

Terry snorted even as a smirk came to Diana's lips, "There's nothing 'humble' about your opinion, Max – never is." Max, for her, part, stuck her tongue out at him even as Diana walked up and took the offered seat, allowing him to go on, "So, Diana, how do you feel?"

"Sore, and a little hungry, but … something isn't right." Diana flexed her hand into a fist several times and then flexed her right bicep, "I don't feel as strong as I one was, and I can't float like I used to." She looked at Terry, who was nodding slightly, "Do you know why?"

"First thing that comes to mind is that you're not Diana Prince anymore, let alone Wonder Woman," he said gently, as if reminding her. "We don't even know if you'll ever get any kind of superpowers. However," he forestalled her objection, "given how you were created to begin with, it could just be a matter of time and development before they return." He put his faux-glasses back on, a cosmetic thing only that Max had almost not let him go without, given that he looked 'more like a CEO' with them on, and turned the computer screen towards Diana, "Now, before we go on with that, we need to fill in a few bits and pieces of your new 'past', starting with your name."

Diana frowned slightly, wracking her mind for names of women she liked and respected, until one first name stood out above all others … well, the second name, as using her mother's name would be too obvious, "Lois … Lois Sullivan."

Terry arched an eyebrow at her over the rims of his glasses, not commenting anything about it as he typed the name in carefully, "Okay, Lois, you're 17 right now, but you'll be 18 in a few weeks, and you've grown up in a relatively isolated portion of the world, given that your parents do not exactly embrace most technology. WPE has taken an interest in your schooling, offering you one of our four-year educational scholarships to Gotham University and we have brought you to Gotham in order to make your acclimation more stream-lined."

The newly minted Lois Sullivan nodded at this instantly, liking most of the new cover story already in that most forms of technology and she did not get along, outside of the basic computers, televisions, telephones and, of course, her coffee machines, all five of them. At her nod, Terry went on, "I'm going to offer you a clerical job at WPE in order to get you some real-world experience in the job market, but if you don't want the job I can set you up with something more to your liking, and we'll be attending classes together at Gotham University for at least this semester – after that, your courses are up to you to pick."

Lois nodded, "Thank you, Mr. McGinnis, and I accept your offer of the job."

He grinned at her and leaned back, taking off his glasses, "Please, outside of the office, call me Terry." He was glad to see her nod at this and he smiled even more, "So, I can get why you picked 'Lois', but who is 'Sullivan'?"

Lois smiled, thinking back, "Back before you were born, Terry, I knew this one reporter who had a nose for news and an instinct for trouble that rivaled even Kal's – in fact, she was an old friend of Kal's, who went by the name of Chloe Sullivan. By far she was one of the kinder reporters who wrote about me and I quite liked her abilities to see the truth and for her appreciation of a good cup of coffee." She remembered one night when Kal had shown up to hand-deliver photos of his baby girl to her and he found her and Chloe chatting over a cup of coffee – he had looked as if he was going to first soil himself and then drop into the fetal position for some reason. Later, she learned about Chloe's past with 'Clark Kent' and instantly understood for part of it, and then the other part when she saw a caffeine-hyper-charged Chloe Sullivan on the hunt for answers. It had been a frightening sight. "She deserves to be remembered, given the egregious way she was killed."

Terry arched an eyebrow at her, "Killed?"

"Over a story she was going to print that implicated numerous crime bosses being tied to most of the city government in Century City – she was walking outside of her home one day to get her mail when she was shot in an old-fashioned drive-by." Lois shook in anger slightly as the memories came to her unbidden, "The police and crime labs never put much effort into solving the case, calling it 'an unfortunate accident' …"

Terry narrowed his eyes, his mind flipping from 'Terry McGinnis' to 'Batman' in a heartbeat, "Was anything ever done?"

Lois shook her head, "No, not at all – I would have … but I could not." There were times that she did wish she could cross that line, that she could go that far for revenge, but she would never go that far because then she would be as bad as the people she fought against in the past.

Terry looked at Max, who nodded and made a note on her ever-present HoloPDA, which looked like the old kind only now it projected the screen up to full-size text, rather than trying to fit it all on the small LCD screen. He looked back at Lois and caught her attention with a slight cough, breaking her out of her simmering anger, "Lois, it's a fine choice for a name, both of them." He pulled a drawer open and pulled out a package of things, sliding it across the top of the desk and into Lois' lap, closing the drawer afterwards, "That's the rest of your credentials … except one thing." She gave him a look and he smiled apologetically, "You need to get your driver's license by taking the tests."

Lois paled even as memories of her past attempts at driving came into her mind – this wasn't going to be fun, given how much trouble she could get into on just four normal wheels. Put her behind the wheel of a new vehicle … she shuddered at the thought.

(Next Day)

Terry walked into his office and gingerly sat down behind his desk, sinking his head into his arms and forcing himself not to cry – an innocent remark by him that morning had sent Max dragging Lois Sullivan, formerly Diana Prince, down to the mall and buying her enough clothes to sink a hovercraft … and making him carry them all. He'd been subjected to fifteen different stores, to shoe shopping, dress shopping, frumpy shopping, underwear shopping (though he had been forced to only give short, articulate answers that were few and far between) and, worst of all, jewelry shopping.

According to Max, he was Batman, the Neo Dark Knight, the bane of all evil … and he couldn't even handle a light day of shopping with his best friend and her friend. He wasn't any kind of Dark Knight – he was a Dark Wimp. He, after listening to Lois howl in laughter, refused to agree and had drug them shopping for another two hours, shopping for him that, in the end, he had picked out all of two things he wanted to wear while they had picked out the other fifty things purchased on his credcards. He was sure that, wherever Bruce was, he was laughing his ass off at him and calling him spineless.

"Mr. McGinnis?" He looked up and pulled on his glasses, Max's voice coming over the intercom, "Miss Sullivan to see you."

He pushed the button, "Send her in, Max." He had been sent to work by the two women, told that he wasn't going to see the new girl before she was ready to be seen – oddly enough, he obeyed, though it later occurred to him that HE was the boss, the CEO, yet he was taking orders from THEM.

The door to his office opened and Lois walked into the room … and Terry was pretty sure his jaw dropped – dressed in a smart ivory business suit with an emerald silk blouse, her hair expertly coifed, wearing a pair of glasses much like his, Lois looked ready to take on any job asked of her with a professional air about her, but that wasn't what Terry was gaping at. For some reason, he noticed that she was gorgeous … and in the back of his mind, his inner Batman was barking at him to keep his mind on business, that she was Wonder Woman, not a piece of meat.

Lois' green eyes were sparkling even as she noticed that Terry had become a drooling idiot in front of her, just as Max had told her he would – he quickly recovered, though, and for some odd reason, she felt a slight loss at that as he grinned at her slightly, "Greetings, Miss Sullivan – welcome to Wayne-Powers Enterprises."

She nodded back at the young man who, technically, was now older than her, "Thank you for having me here, Mister McGinnis." He motioned for her to take a seat and she did so, "I must say that it's an honor to be asked to work here."

Terry smiled at her slightly, noticing that she wasn't adlibbing the lines they'd hammered out too much, "As a recipient of our scholarship, I was most insistent on you working here, or at least offering you a job of some kind – we here at WPE do like to not only offer chances, but to take them as well. Now, I understand that you and I will both be taking classes at Gotham University?"

She nodded, "That is correct – I finished registering this morning and my eventual degree will be in Business Finance, not to mention with a minor in Psychology."

Terry nodded at this, grinning slightly, "Then I hope I could borrow your notes on occasion, as those are some of my majors, too." He stopped grinning and straightened up, getting back into character, though he was inwardly bouncing at the chance to give this particular speech, "Miss Sullivan, I must inform you, though, that any ideas you have of being a party girl should stop right now – I ask that you stick to your studies with diligence and I must warn you that I accept nothing less than excellence from any and all who work for me. Do you think you can handle that?"

Lois smiled at the young man, remembering what Bruce had told her about his meeting with Terry's mother, "I think I can handle it, sir."

Terry smiled at her slightly, "Good – to start out, though, you'll be a gopher here, in that you will 'go for' this, and 'go for' that. You'll be a … helper, as it were, until you find your niche."

"I'm looking forward to it, sir, and I hope to not let you down." Lois stood and motioned with her hand that she wished to shake his.

Terry smiled and stood up, walking around his desk and taking her hand, "Very well then, Miss Sullivan … welcome to my world."

Lois shook his hand briskly, a smile on her lips, "Bruce would be proud of you, Terry."

Terry nodded at the former Wonder Woman, "I hope he is, Lois. Now though, sadly, we must get to work." He walked back around his desk and his intercom call button, "Max? Call HR and have Lois set up in a suitable office, please, and then have her assigned to the secretary pool for the day. Tomorrow, we'll work something more permanent out."

"Yes, Mister McGinnis," Max's voice came back, though with a hint of steel as he noticed that Lois' fingernails were also manicured. Oh yeah, he was going to pay for this.

AN: Okay, that's it for this chapter and, sadly, for this fic – yes, there will be a sequel, but I am not sure when I will get around to it. Will Lois keep her powers? Will she develop new ones? Not sure yet, but what I can assure you is that while Terry does seem somewhat spineless here, I've been in his position before (two girls shopping and stuck as the packmule – trust me, guys, avoid it at all costs), so I know what I'm talking about. Reviews, please, AR.


End file.
